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Carbon Monoxide Concentrations: 1992-2007
Maximum 8-hour running mean concentration (mg/m 3)
Site 7 | 1992 | 1995 | 2000 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 |
|---|
Maximum 8-hour running mean (mg/m 3) |
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Glasgow Centre | - | - | 4.2 | 2.3 | 2.0 | 1.2 |
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Edinburgh 2 | 4.3 | 3.7 | 2.4 | 1.7 | 1.3 | 1.2 |
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Aberdeen | - | - | 2.3 | 1.7 | 2.2 | 0.9 |
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Annual mean (mg/m 3) |
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Glasgow Centre | - | - | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.3 |
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Edinburgh 2 | 1.1 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.3 |
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Aberdeen | - | - | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.3 |
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Carbon monoxide (CO) is a gas formed by the incomplete combustion of carbon-based fuels. The greatest threat to human health from exposure to CO is the formation of carboxyhaemoglobin. This reduces the capacity of the blood to carry oxygen resulting in drowsiness, headaches, and in severe cases unconsciousness and death.
The Air Quality Strategy 4 ( AQS) objective for CO is a maximum concentration of 10mg/m 3 measured as an 8-hour running mean. There are no instances of this limit being exceeded since 1992.
The main outdoor source of carbon monoxide is currently road transport, in particular petrol-fuelled vehicles, which in 2006 accounted for 43% of UK emissions. 3 Between 1990 and 2006, UK emissions of CO from road transport fell by 82%, a decline mainly attributed to the installation of catalytic converters in vehicles, but also to a lesser extent an increase in the proportion of diesel cars.
Source: UK National Air Quality Archive
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